Irish sides in pole position

Ireland’s U18 boys and girls sit on the cusp of a remarkable double triumph, after both put themselves in the driving seat to annex their respective Four Nations titles at Garryduff in Cork today. Both Irish sides chalked up rare victories over England, albeit by the narrowest of margins. A draw will therefore be enough for both outfits to claim overall honours on home turf tomorrow; the girls are first up against Scotland (10.30am), while the boys take on Wales two hours later. The boys came from behind to record a deserved 2-1 victory over England, meaning Graeme Francey’s troops are the only side with maximum points from their first two games and are, as such, now in the driving seat to carry off the title on home turf in Cork.

As if England’s 5-0 destruction of Wales on Saturday wasn’t daunting enough, Wales’ subsequent defeat of Scotland – who Ireland struggled the shrug off in their opener – by the same margin highlight the strength of the challenge facing the boys in green. Nonetheless, they were the most effective side in a cagey first half, though chances were at a premium – end-line pull-backs from Hugh McShane and William Edgar failed to find the sticks of the onrushing Irish forwards, and that was about as good as it got. Shane O’Donoghue – scorer of all four of Ireland’s goals against the Scots – was finding giant English goalkeeper Harry Gibson a tougher nut to crack, and saw two first-half drag-flicks saved. England had created precious little for half an hour, but from their sole short corner of the half, they hit the front on 31 minutes. Jonathan Gall’s switched slap was deflected straight into Irish netminder Mark Ingram, but Josh Guy was on hand to bury the rebound from the right-hand side for 1-0. Ireland’s woes were compounded minutes later when Andrew Williamson was yellow-carded for taking down an aerial above shoulder height – a maddening dismissal, given players from both sides had earlier only been cautioned for similar offences. O’Donoghue then replaced him on the sideline on the 40th minute when he was binned for backchat, seemingly stemming any immediate hopes of an Irish comeback. But then England’s Alex Czerniweski fell foul of the aerial takedown interpretation, earning a yellow card and conceding a corner.

With O’Donoghue kicking his heels and Nick Burns resting, it was left to Shane Madelely to assume the drag-flicking duties. His bottom corner-bound effort was adroitly stick-saved by Gibson, but Tom Samuel was on hand to expertly volley the ball first-time to the far corner from near the push-out spot. Richard Skyes saved Ireland’s bacon at the other end soon after with a vital mid-air clearance, coming when Ingram was grounded and Nick Bandurak was waiting to pounce. The game’s pivotal moment then arrived on 52 minutes, when the again-excellent Ben Dobson surged from right-back to win Ireland’s fourth set-piece. O’Donoghue cracked his drag off the upright and Edger was unable to pounce on the rebound with a reverse, but the ball fell kindly for Samuel who lashed it under the exposed English goalkeeper for his second. Edgar was inches away from getting a scoring touch to O’Donoghue’s slide-rule ball, after Ian Sloan had brilliantly worked his way out of trouble near the sideline. But Edgar’s haste to redeem the situation got the better of him when he hacked down Guy from behind, and the Annadale man became the third Irish player to be binned. Guy then did likewise to O’Donoghue 60 seconds later and also saw yellow. That set up an open 10 vs 10 finale, and it was England who looked likeliest to score; but the Irish corner defence, led by the tenacious Luke Chadwick, cleared the danger to ensure a famous victory. Meanwhile, a sterling second-half performance helped the Irish girls to a 1-0 win over England. The girls have yet to conceded a goal in the tournament, and yesterday had local star Amy Kate Trevor — filling in for the injured Nicole Laarhoven in central defence — and midfield schemer Dora Gorman to thank in their 1-0 victory over England.

Gorman — skipper of the Irish U17 soccer side which recently reached a European championship final — played in Emily Beatty, whose cross-shot was deflected home by Katie Codyre for the winner with 12 minutes remaining. It was just reward for an Irish effort that saw them dominate after the break, and they nearly had a second when Joanne Orr’s initial shot was superbly saved by English keeper Dukie Davies, while Gorman’s follow-up effort was taken off the line by an English defender. The Irish now play the Scots, who kept mathematically themselves in the hunt for glory thanks to a 2-1 win over Wales. Heather Elder did the damage once again, scoring both her side’s goals, to add to her strike in the 2-1 reverse to England. The Scottish vice-captain’s pace has been difficult for all defences to deal with, and she will have to be well shackled by Richie Malone’s side tomorrow. The full set of Adrian Boehm’s pictures will be available on http://irishhockeyphotographers.zenfolio.com from Tuesday. U18 Four Nations, Garryduff, Cork Boys England 5 (G Lilley, J Hardy, N Bandurak, N Giles, R Gilham Jones) Wales 0 Ireland 4 (S O’Donoghue 4) Scotland 2 (B Peterson 2) Scotland 0 Wales 5 (F Campbell 2, M Pacey 2, S Forman) Ireland 2 (T Samuel 2) England 1 (J Guy) Standings: 1 Ireland 6pts (+3) 2 England 3pts (+4) 3 Wales 3pts (0) 4 Scotland 0pts (-7). Today: England vs Scotland, 8.30am; Ireland vs Wales, 12.30pm. Girls England 2 (K Maxey, S Crosley) Wales 1 (R Treharne) England 2 (J Inverdale, S Beatty) Scotland 1 (H Elder) Ireland 2 (N Gray, V Surgeoner) Wales 0 Wales 1 (N James) Scotland 2 (H Elder 2) Ireland 1 (K Codyre) England 0 Standings: 1 Ireland 6pts (+3) 2 England 6pts (+2);  3. Scotland 3pts (0); 4. Wales 0pts (-4) Today: Ireland vs Scotland, 10.30am.